Improvement in rotary engines



E P JONES.

Improvement in Rotary-Engines.

` v Patented July 23,1872.

jizz/Midi? t ./4/I

`uvnRovEMENT 1N `ROTARY ENGINES.

specification fer-ning part of Letters Patent No. 129,830, dated Juiyge,1812.

Specification describing certain Improve- 4ments inRotary Engines,invented by ED` WARD P. JONEs, `residing in the county of Lenore, inthejState of Mississippi.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is av side elevation of myimproved engine, showing "one of the heads of thecylinder, thesteam-iniFig. 4 is aperspectiveview of the revolving drum and its oscillatingorswinging abutmentsj Figr isan elevation of the cam which operates the@induction-valves. Fig. 6 is a transverse section online x x of Fig. 2,showing the construction ofthe induction-valves.

\ Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a block of metal, which is designed tobe placed upon the cam which operates the'induction-valves for thepurpose of changinglat pleasurethe point at `which the steam shall beadmitted.'

Corresponding letters refer tocorresponding parts in the severalfigures. f Y

AThis inventionrelates to that class of engines which are denominatedrotary engines, and has for its object the production of an engine whichshall be free frommany of the objections which haveheretofore existed inthat class of engines, whether it be used as a steam or as an airengine; and to this end thelinvention consists in the construction,combination, and arrangement of some of the parts of `which it iscomposed, they being designed to produce certain new and useful results,which Vwill be more `fully described hereinafter. Y j A In constructingengines of this character I use a concentric cylinder or case, A, whichmay bemade of any suitable metal and of any required dimensionsit beingso constructed as to be conveniently attached to a bed-plate orplatform. The internal surface of this case 'is to be bored outsmoothly, and to be a perfeet circle, and is to have steam-inductionports formedl in it, as shown at A in Fig.2.

` N'Lheremay be `any, required numberk of these ports, according to thecharacter of the en= gine; but I prefer to have an even number, `andthey should be so arranged as to be direct- `ly opposite to theirfellows, in order that, as steam is admitted,it shall press equally uponall parts'of the revolving drum, and thus avoid unequal wear upon thejournals of the shaft, and consequently a large amount of the frictionusual in engines of this type, reducing this frictionto an actualminimum. The steaminduction ports used in'this cylinder are enlargedbeyond what would be necessary to permit them to admit steam to the'cylinder in order that the outer portions of the abutments, soon to bedescribed, may pass through them. To the outensurface of the case orcylinder A,

at the points where steam is to be admitted,`

steam-chests B are secured.l into which steam is to be conducted by anysuitable steam pipe or pipes, B', as shown in Fig. 2. Theinduction-valves C are Iplaced in the steam'chests B, they being ofsuitable construction to admit steam to the interior of the case A andto cut it off at proper intervals, thoseshown in the drawing consistingof two parts, the outer surfaces of which are in the form of a segmentof a circle, in order that they may t the concentric chamber formed inthe chest fortheirreception. The two portions of this valve are forcedapart by means of springs, as shown in Figs. 2 and 6, in order lthattheir outerlsurfaces` may be held in contact with the chamber in whichthey oscillate, oneof them being fur:- nished 'with journals, which restin caps"v or covers C', screwed into or otherwisesecured to the chest.One of these journals extends through the cap or cover, and is arrangedto receive a crank, D, for imparting to the valve the requiredmovements. Upon the outer end of the shaft which 'passes through therevolving drum and through the heads `of the cylinder or casethere isplaced a cam, E, which may have upon it one, two, or more projections,

`Ellll, which are to be so arrangedas tocomem in contact, at Athe propertimes, with suitable levers or sliding rods for giving motion tothevalves, the devices used in the example shown' l v` consisting of alever or levers, E2. E2, pivoted tothe head of the cylinder, andhaving-upon them projections, against which the cams, during a portionof their revolution, press, and" thus'cause VAtheir lower ends tooscillate and give motion to connecting-rods E3, which are pivoted tothem and to the lower ends of the movements bein g imparted, in thepresent case,

by means of springs E, one end of which is attached to a stud or boltscrewed to the head of the cylinder and the other end to the oscillatinglever E2 in such a manner that when the raised portion E1 of the cam Ehas passed the projections on the lever E2 they shall instantaneouslyopen the valves to admit steam to the cylinder. In order that thesprings may be allowed to act upon the valves at any desired point withreference to the revolutions of the drum within the cylinder, and thusadmit the steam at any desired point during such revolution, or, inother words, in order that the points or times of admittin g the steammay be properly controlled, blocks E5, such as are shown at Fig. 7, areprovided, and are to be bolted to the cam E, as represented in Fig. 5,so as to form a prolongation of the curved portion thereof, and thuscontrol the `time of opening the valves; and, in order that the point atwhich the steam is to be cut oil' may be regulated at pleasure, blocksE6 E6 are placed upon the opposite edge of the raised portion of the camEl, which are heldin position by screws, as shown in Fig. 5, or in anyother suitable manner When it is desirable to cut off the steam earlierwith reference to the revolution of the drum, more of these blocks areadded, and when a more continuous supply of steam is wanted some of themare removed, and thus the time or point of cutting oi` is regulated.

Instead of the devices here shown for imparting motion to the valves, itis evident that sliding bars may be connected to the crank D, the innerends of which may be connected to the cams by means of friction-rollers,so that a sliding motion will be imparted to said rods, and thus therequired movement imparted to the valves; their opening and closingmovement in such a case being positive, because controlled by the cam,with which the roller would always be in contact.

The interior portion of my improved engine consists of a chambered drum,G, which is secured to a shaft, G', said shaft passing through thecenter of the drum and forming its axis, and also the journals uponwhich it rotates, by having its ends extended through the heads of thecase or cylinder, so that the cam E may be attached to one of its outerends. This drum is to be of a length equal to that of the case, so thatin revolving its ends may be in contact, or very nearly in contact, withthe heads thereof, and thus prevent steam from passing that point. Theinterior of this drum is to be divided into two or more compartments,which are to communicate with the space between the outer surface orperiphery thereof and the inner surface of the cylinder or case, so thatwhen steam is admitted to such space by the induction-valves a portionof it may pass into these compartments or chambers, and remain thereuntil the steam has been exhausted from the space above alluded to,when, by the action of the swinging abutments, soon to be described, aportion of it will be allowed to pass out and ll the space between thetwo abutments the instant they shall have passed each other, which spaceis usually denominated the clearance, so that when the induction-valvesare opened a less quantity of steam is required to enter from the boileror generator than would be the case if the space above alluded to wereempty.

Another beneficial effect which will be produced by this steam is that,so soon as the abutments have passed each other far enough to allow themto return to their open or partially open position, it will enterbetween said abutments, and thus act expansively upon them during aportion of the time in which the induction-valve is closed, and will, assoon as said valve is opened, meet the inowing current of steam from thegenerator, and a portion of it pass through into the drum, to be againshut in and used again at the next proper points.

It is believed that an additional advantage and actual increase ofdriving-power for the instant will be produced by the meeting in conictofthe two currents of steam, one from the chamber in the drum and theother from the generator, as a certain amount of reaction will takeplace, the force of which will be exerted upon the receding abutment.The abutments H H1, against which the steam presses to cause therevolution of the drum C, are placed in the space between its peripheryand the inner surface of the case or cylinder, as shown in Fig. 2 of thedrawing, they consisting of two or more pairs of swinging pieces ofmetal, one of each pair being hinged to or pivoted in projectionsscrewed upon the revolving drum, and the other to a similar projectionupon the interior of the case or cylinder. At their pivoted or hin gedends or bases these abutments are made nearly cylindrical in form, inorder that they may lit into a socket formed in the said projections,respectively. From this rounded or cylindrical portion of each thereextends a flattened portion, the length of which is sufficient, at aproper angle or incline, to ll and close the space between the case andthe drum, while its width is such as to permit its front or loose end,which has been curved or bent for the purpose, to enter a slot formed inthe case A, and likewise in the drum G, in order that when the abutmentsH H, which are pivoted to the revolving drum, come under those letteredHl H1, they may each move through one-half of the space which existsbetween the drum and the outer case, for which purpose these free endsmust enter their respective slots, while they laterally or in widthentirely and closely occupy that space. This arrangement of theabutments is calculated to prevent much of the injury usually resultingfrom the moving abutments in rolow one.

taryengines as they are now constructed, for the reason that in thepresent instance .they only have to travel one-halfV the usual distance,and for the further reason that the inclination upon their outersurfaces is so slight as not to cause any jar to the machinery upontheir comingin contact.` Another peculiarity `in the construction oftheseabutments consists in the fact that they are provided with hooks orprojections upon that portion of their surfaceswhich enter the slots inthe case or drum, which are soarranged that when the abutments have beenforced outward by the springs H2, which are placed under them, or

\ by steam entering beneath them, sufficiently' far to allow theirsurfaces to come in close contact with thedrum and case, respectively,as shown in Fig. 2, they will then be held andlpreventedfrom beingforced out to such an extent as to cause unduefriction upon the partsthus brought in contact. These abutments are by size lor packing to bein such closecontact with the drum and case, respectively, that steamcannot pass by them, but yet they are to beso held from within theirslots that they cannotimpinge the drum or the ease with any moreseverity,or causemore wear or friction at a high pressure of `steam thanat a' Another and a very important function which is performed by theabutments H H, or those which are pivoted to the revolving .i drum, isthat they serve as valves for controlling the discharge of steam fromthe compartments or chambers of the drum G, they being so fitted to itthat, as its chambers have been filled with steam and the drum hasrotated far enough tobring the abutments H H under those which arepivoted to the case or cylinder, they will be closed, and thusl thesteam will be confined in its apartment until the drum has furtherrotated a sufficient distance to carry the abutments H H past thoselettered H1 H1, when those lettered H H will instantaneously open andallow the steam which was confined in the drum to pass out and produce'the effects previously described. For facilitating the removal of theabove-de-p.

scribedabutments for the purpose of repairing or repacking them, or forreplacing them conveniently and quickly with new ones, I provide onehead of the case or cylinder with hand-hole plates7 or removableportions, such as are represented atI in Fig. 3, being placed insuchposition in the head that when y removed the abutmeuts may bereadily drawn out and replaced `or removed, and again inserted when thehand-hole plate is replaced and repackedto prevent the escape of steamaround it. K K representV the exhaust-pas sage, which may be placed inany desired po-4 sitionwit-h` reference to `the swinging abutments, so`that steam maybe exhausted at any that the steam shall not be exhausteduntil the abutments in the revolving drum `have nearly reached the pointat which they arriveV i when the abutments are to pass each other, andthe inductionfvalves are'to be opened, so that the full force of thesteam will be maintained throughout nearly the entire revolution of thedrum. These apertures, outlets, or exhausts may be provided withescape-pipes to conduct the steam in any desired direction.

Having thus described `my invention, what I claim, 4and desire to secureby Letters Patent,- is

l. In an engine to be air, or any of the gases under pressure, arevolving chamber, herein described, and in which, a portion of thesteam admitted to propel the engine is confined for a short period oftime and then automatically liberated and allowed to come in contactwith the current of steam which is entering the engine direct from theboiler, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. I claim the swinging abutments H H H? scribed, whereby they areprevented from be ing forced out too. hard against the'surfaces K withwhich they comein contact.

3. I claim the arrangement ofthe swinging abutments within the spacebetween the revolving drum and the case, in such a manner that upontheir coming in contact those on the revolving drum shall be made torecede through one-half of the space, and, at the samey time, cause theothers to recede through the' other half of such space.

4.` I claim the arrangement ofthe swinging:

abutments H1 H1 with reference to the`revolv ing drum Gr,'whereby thesteam is confined in said drum, and is let out at the proper point oftime, in order that it may "act expansively to propel the engine,substantially in the manner described.

5. I claim the cam E for closingthe induction-valves, when provided withthe removable blocks for controlling the point or time of opening andclosing the valve, substantially as set forth. Y

6. I claim the removable portion I of the cylinder-head, when arrangedin relation to the swinging abutments substantially as and for thepurposeset forth. v

In testimony whereof I have signedmy name to this specification in thepresenceof two subscribin g witnesses.

EDWD. P. JONES.

propelled by steam,

arranged substantially as

